HUNT FOR ‘BEAST’ OF DRONGAN
Villagers in fear... but what DID spark search for mystery animal?
‘Concerned about the alpacas’
A MASSIVE police hunt for a ‘black panther’ had locals locking up their animals and keeping children indoors in a tiny rural village yesterday.
Police helicopters and officers on the ground carried out a wide search of farms and woodland in Ayrshire after reports of a big black cat on the loose.
An alert was issued around 8.45am when a member of the public handed in a picture of the mystery beast spotted between the villages of Drongan and Coalhall.
Residents of both villages were advised to stay vigilant and were warned not to approach the animal.
The alert prompted farmers to stand guard over livestock, while horse owners scoured their stables for fear the creature may be sheltering inside.
Parents also said they had to stop their children from going out to look for the big cat in nearby woodland for fear they would be attacked.
Police Scotland immediately sent up a helicopter to try to locate it, while an animal expert was drafted in in an attempt to establish what breed of big cat they were hunting.
The force also sent officers to scour the area for the creature, which they said they believed was injured.
Farm owners and residents in remote properties were shown a grainy picture of the elusive beast by officers going door-to-door.
Hours later, officers said experts had ruled out the possibility of the cat being a panther, but the hunt continued for the mystery creature.
Big cat experts said that an escaped leopard, a hybrid puma or a ‘large feral cat’ at large in the area may have prompted the sighting.
The big cat was spotted on a mile-long stretch of road between Drongan and the tiny village of Coalhall, just north of the A70.
A statement issued by the force yesterday morning read: ‘Residents in Drongan and Coalhall are being advised by officers to be vigilant after a report has been received of a sighting of what is believed to be a black panther in the fields near to the B730 between the two villages.
‘Officers are currently working to locate the animal, which may be injured.
‘The area is popular with dog walkers so care should be taken and if anyone sees the animal we would ask you not to approach it but to contact Police via 101.’
Police initially called in animal rescue officers from the Scottish SPCA but they were quickly stood down because they are ‘unequipped’ to deal with big cats.
The charity’s animal rescue officer Alistair Hill said: ‘We can confirm we have received reports regarding a possible panther sighting.’
A Police Scotland spokesman added: ‘A thorough search of the area was carried out this morning with assistance from the police helicopter.
‘However, officers have been unable to trace the animal.
‘Officers are currently liaising with an expert in order to confirm the identity of the animal.’
The spokesman later said the expert did ‘not believe that it is a black panther’ and was still working to identify its breed.
The alert comes nine years after police warned the public to be on guard after a suspected puma attack on a horse in the Ayrshire village of Coylton.
The attack took place near the Sundrum Holiday Park only two months after a 6ft puma was said to have been spotted in the area.
Yesterday, locals in Drongan, said they were woken by the police helicopter, which was scrambled to hunt for the creature.
Police officers were also dispatched to visit farmers to warn them of the potential sighting of a black panther on the loose in the area.
Angela Mitchell, 54, a grandmother of 13, keeps 36 alpacas at Hannahston Alpaca Farm in Drongan, including six baby alpacas, called crias.
She has been on guard since first being informed of the roaming big cat yesterday morning by uniform officers. She said: ‘The police came out and let me know.
‘They showed me a photo of a big black panther. They told me it had been taken by a farmer near the cemetery and that it was last seen heading this way.
‘I’m concerned about the safety of the alpacas, especially the babies in case they get attacked.
‘I’ve been out at the field watching from the car, just in case, today and I’ll be doing a night shift tonight. I would hate anything to happen.
‘I was going to put the alpacas in the barn but I want them to be able to run away, so I’m leaving them in the field and keeping a close watch.’
Reports online suggested the big cat had been kept as a pet in the nearby village of Patna and had escaped, but no one had come forward last night.
There were also fears of an attack among workers at New Hall Stud Farm, which breeds horses on the outskirts of the village.
Stable worker Leah Devaney, 24, who has been working at the stables for six months, said: ‘It is worse that we are within walking distance from where it has been sighted.
‘If it is real I would be more concerned about myself than the horses.
‘We will be checking the stables and sheds tonight before we put the horses in just in case it has got in. Hopefully it is not real.’
Her colleague, Kerry Robertson, 22, who has been working at the stables for six years said: ‘I didn’t believe it until I saw it on the one o’clock news.
‘I’m wondering where it came
from and how it got lost in this area.’
Residents of the former mining village are also on high alert, with fears circulating in the community for the safety of the young children, currently on their October week break.
Marlyn Linwood, 66, who owns a takeaway in the village, said: ‘I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve never heard of anything like this before.
‘It’s not really funny. Once the children got to hear about this, they said they were going to go to the woods to look for it but it’s very dangerous.’
She added: ‘I heard the helicopters flying over twice. I hope it’s found soon.’
Her daughter, Julie Linwood, 48, who also works in the takeaway, said: ‘I’m afraid that it might hurt someone if there is such a thing. Let’s hope it’s caught very soon.’
Danny Bamping, founder of the British Big Cats Society, said concerns about livestock were well founded, adding that a big cat could pose a threat to children. He said: ‘A field full of sheep is like a McDonald’s drivethrough for a large cat.
‘The local authority should be telling people not to go outside looking for the cat. If cornered or threatened it could be a danger to children, especially if they get in the way of its food.
‘The smaller feral cats will eat easy prey, pheasants or rabbits, but the larger will go for deer and maybe horses.’
He added: ‘We need to know for sure that a leopard has escaped from somewhere, otherwise to me it’s a feral cat or large domestic.
‘There’s no doubt some large felines are in there but to scientifically call it a big cat means that it’s got to be a panther, black leopard, jaguar, lion or tiger because these are the only big cats. The sightings of large cats in Scotland are predominantly black and they are large, but whether they are panthers is a big question.
‘It could be a hybrid because cats can hybridise, which would make it unique to science.’